Eye-on-Retail Daily Tipsheet Archives

US retail sales rebound sharply in October at CNBC. “The Commerce Department said retail sales increased 0.8 percent last month also as households bought electronics and appliances. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast retail sales increasing 0.5 percent in October. Retail sales in October rose 4.6 percent from a year ago.”Read more

About 38% of American consumers plan to shop on Black Friday this year, and six in 10 of those shoppers anticipate making at least half of their holiday purchases on that day at Reuters.Read more

U.S. Postal Service loss triples, even as package deliveries rise at Reuters. “…potentially giving U.S. President Donald Trump ammunition against Amazon, which he claims pays too little for the agency’s services.”Read more

Victoria’s Secret CEO out amid sagging sales by Lisa Fickenscher at NY Post. “Jan Singer, who left the helm of Spanx to run Victoria’s Secret in 2016, was tapped to spearhead a turnaround…It isn’t clear whether the company is set to name a new CEO.”Read more

Canada Post strike having ‘critical’ impact on retailers, eBay says at Vancouver Sun. “EBay is calling on the federal government to legislate an end to the Canada Post contract dispute, warning that quick action is needed to ensure retailers don’t lose out on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.”Read more

To Curb Wasteful Health Spending, Walmart to Send Employees Traveling for Spine Surgery by Melanie Evans at Wall Street Journal. “Walmart decided to mandate the travel, starting in January, after finding that half of the workers who volunteered to travel ended up avoiding the high-cost surgery even though their local doctors said it was needed, said Lisa Woods, who oversees the design of the company’s health plan.”WSJ subs.

Ontario releases cannabis regulations for retail stores set to open April 1 at Toronto Star. “The stand-alone stores can be open any day between 9 a.m. and 11 p.m., but they must be at least 150 metres away from schools and bar entry to anyone under 19 years old. A market concentration limit of 75 stores per operator has been set.”Read more

…Canada-wide cannabis shortages to persist for years: producers at Vancouver Sun.Read more

Schwan’s being sold to South Korean firm in $1.8 billion deal by Kristen Leigh Painter at Star Tribune. “Schwan’s Co., the Minnesota food distributor known for the home deliveries made by its distinctive gold trucks, is being sold to South Korea’s largest food company. CJ CheilJedang, or CJCJ as it is known, will pay $1.8 billion for an 80 percent stake in Schwan’s.”Tiered subs.

Standard Cognition raises $40M to replace retailers’ cashiers with cameras at TechCrunch.Read more

Millennials Are Disrupting Thanksgiving With Their Tiny Turkeys by Leslie Patton & Lydia Mulvany at Bloomberg. “People are starting to understand it’s not natural to grow turkeys up to 30 pounds,” said Ariane Daguin, co-founder and owner of D’Artagnan LLC, a wholesale and e-commerce food company in Union, New Jersey. “In general, that means they were penned up with no room to move around, and that’s why they’re fat like that.”Tiered subs.

Nike’s huge new NYC flagship looks like the future of retail at Fast Company. “The Speed Shop, which is located in the store’s basement, even has its own separate entrance to make it more convenient. “You don’t have to go through the whole carnival ride,” says Andy Thaemert, a senior creative director at Nike who heads up global store design.”Read more

Hundreds of wildfire evacuees in Northern California have set up a tent city in a Walmart parking lot at Daily Mail.Pics/Read more

Buy your next winter coat at the airport vending machine by Alison Sider at Wall Street Journal. “She had run out of time to buy a coat for the glacier hike…Lo and behold,” she says, “a Uniqlo brand vending machine appeared in my path.”…She recalls swiping her card and exclaiming, “Take my money!”WSJ subs.

Next generation of biotech food heading for grocery stores by Lauren Neergaard at AP. “The next generation of biotech food is headed for the grocery aisles, and first up may be salad dressings or granola bars made with soybean oil genetically tweaked to be good for your heart.”Read more